Title: New Sight
Author: Jo Schneider
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Releases: April 22, 2014
Back Cover:
Most sixteen years olds’ biggest worries revolve around school dances and good grades, but Lysandra Blake has a much bigger problem to worry about: She wants to rip peoples’ eyes out.
When Lys finds herself tied down in a psych ward after attacking her own mother, everybody around her is convinced she’s gone insane. The doctors don’t have answers, and Lys is about ready to give up when the mysterious Mr. Mason appears, telling Lys that she’s not insane—she’s addicted to a rare and deadly drug that she has no recollection of using. With this knowledge, Lys is thrown headfirst into a world of daunting, magical powers that are not only unbelievable; they are extremely dangerous.
Review:
The synopsis sounded a lot like there would be psychic powers, but it was listed as fantasy, not paranormal. So I wasn’t quite sure what was going on, but magic and psychics are both good with me. Plus, the mental illness angle sounded awesome. So I figured I’d try it.
Lys was interesting. She was protective and brave, and didn’t really think about herself when someone else was in trouble. But she could be naive and slow to pick up on things (or that could just be that I picked up on stuff faster than average). I absolutely loved the fascinating descriptions of her mental-illness thing. Even though the narration was third person, I had to double-check that fact because her emotions came across so well.
Brady, a fellow inmate/drug-addict/whatever-you-want-to-call-him, was my favorite character. He was the light-hearted, fun one, who always seemed happy and optimistic. The ending definately raised my opinion of him, too.
I only half liked Kamau (another inmate). The reader part of me thought he was a little too much of a perfect love interest (at least until the end when he started to play much more into the plot). The teenage girl part of me wished I could find a sweet, caring guy like him.
New Sight kind of had an ensemble cast. I say “kind of” because even though there are a lot if I were to name them all, they were never onstage all at once. So the story didn’t usually feel too crowded, but there are far more characters I could mention if I had the space.
This synopsis is one of those that gives you a teaser of the first few chapters – because that’s about how long this one lasts for. Then it moves on. There’s a group working against Mr. Mason which may or may not be evil (or maybe Mr. Mason is the evil one). Lys and a group of friends go on the run from these people. And that’s about as far as I’ll go, for risk of spoilers – but it gets better.
I absolutely loved the idea behind New Sight. This kind of magic isn’t exactly original, but that it acts kind of like a psychic power and kind of like a drug … brilliant!
New Sight was original, fascinating, brilliant … and I wish spoilers weren’t a problem, because I’d love to mention so much more of the plot. There’s so much more than you read on the back cover, and it gets so much better. I totally enjoyed the read. There’s not much sequel room here, but I’d be interested to find out what Jo Schneider is writing next.
I received a free ARC of New Sight from the publisher. Their generosity in no way influenced, or sought to influence, this review.
Bluejay Reads 